New Year's Eve: Dubai blasts old record in fireworks blitz

By Holly Yan, CNN

Updated 7:57 PM ET, Tue December 31, 2013

Photos: Bringing in 201445 photos

Bringing in 2014 – Fireworks fill the air over the San Francisco skyline, near the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge, as part of New Year's Eve celebrations just after midnight on Wednesday, January 1. Click through to see other New Year's celebrations around the world:

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Bringing in 2014 – Revelers cheer under falling confetti at the stroke of midnight during New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square, New York City, just after midnight on January 1.

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Bringing in 2014 – Isabel Lord wears a pair of 2014 glasses during First Night in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 31.

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Bringing in 2014 – Fireworks explode above the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, skyline as part of New Year's celebrations on January 1.

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Bringing in 2014 – Revelers gather on Duval Street in Key West, Florida, to celebrate the new year.

Bringing in 2014 – Brad and Amber Kerman of Ventura, California, kiss as the ball drops during the New Year's Eve party in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Wednesday, January 1.

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Bringing in 2014 – Fireworks light the sky over Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro just after midnight on Wednesday, January 1.

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Bringing in 2014 – A woman holds a champagne bottle during New Year's celebrations in Bucharest, Romania.

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Bringing in 2014 – New Year's celebrations take place in Funchal on Madeira, a Portuguese island in the Atlantic.

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Bringing in 2014 – A couple kisses by the ancient Coliseum to celebrate the new year in Rome.

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Bringing in 2014 – People celebrate the new year on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.

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Bringing in 2014 – Thousands of people attend New Year's celebrations at Mont des Arts in Brussels, Belgium.

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Bringing in 2014 – New Year's fireworks illuminate the Rhine River in Basel, Switzerland.

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Bringing in 2014 – People watch fireworks explode over the Vardar River during New Year's celebrations in Skopje, Macedonia.

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Bringing in 2014 – People take part in New Year's celebrations at Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine.

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Bringing in 2014 – Fireworks light up Big Ben and the London skyline during New Year's celebrations.

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Bringing in 2014 – New Year's celebrations take place near the National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam.

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Bringing in 2014 – People ring in the new year at Cathedral Square in Vilnius, Lithuania.

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Bringing in 2014 – Fireworks welcome the new year over the National Stadium and the Vistula River in Warsaw, Poland.

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Bringing in 2014 – Fireworks explode over the landmark Brandenburg Gate to bring in the new year in Berlin on Wednesday, January 1.

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Bringing in 2014 – Drummers perform at the New Year's Winter Carnival in Newcastle, England.

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Bringing in 2014 – Fireworks burst over the ancient Parthenon temple on the Acropolis hill in Athens, Greece.

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Bringing in 2014 – People ride a Ferris wheel as fireworks illuminate the sky during New Year's celebrations in Edinburgh, Scotland.

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Bringing in 2014 – Fireworks explode near the citadel of Arbil during New Year's Eve celebrations in Irbil, Iraqi Kurdish Regional Administration, on January 1.

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Bringing in 2014 – New Year's fireworks explode over Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Dubai set a new world record for largest fireworks display, according to Guinness World Records. The show featured 400,000 pyrotechnics and spanned more than 100 kilometres (62 miles).

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Bringing in 2014 – Fireworks explode above the central square of Rosa Khutor ski resort, a venue of the 2014 Winter Olympics, in Krasnaya Polyana, near Sochi, Russia during New Year's celebrations.

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Bringing in 2014 – Fireworks light up the sky over St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow's Red Square as Russians welcome the new year.

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Bringing in 2014 – Pakistani youth gather to celebrate New Year's on a street in Lahore.

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Bringing in 2014 – In Mumbai, an Indian boy lights the effigy of an old man, symbolizing the burning of the past in hopes of starting a new year without bad memories.

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Bringing in 2014 – The Bangkok Ball Drop, in Thailand's capital, became the highest New Year's Eve ball drop in the world at 266 meters (872 feet).

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Bringing in 2014 – Fireworks light up the sky in Manila, Philippines.

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Bringing in 2014 – People perform on stage during a countdown party in Yangon, Myanmar.

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Bringing in 2014 – Fireworks are seen over Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong.

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Bringing in 2014 – People watch a fireworks display during celebrations in Taipei, Taiwan.

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Bringing in 2014 – Laser lights shoot from towers at the Great Wall of China in Beijing.

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Bringing in 2014 – Fireworks burst over the Singapore skyline during New Year's celebrations.

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Bringing in 2014 – Fireworks explode over Juche Tower and the Taedong River in Pyongyang, North Korea.

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Bringing in 2014 – Buddhist monks hold candles during celebrations at a temple in Seoul, South Korea.

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Bringing in 2014 – South Koreans celebrate with drums during a New Year's festival in Jeju, South Korea.

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Bringing in 2014 – Balloons are released in Tokyo to celebrate 2014.

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Bringing in 2014 – A crowd watches the New Year's fireworks in Melbourne.

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Bringing in 2014 – Fireworks explode near the Harbor Bridge during New Year's celebrations in Sydney. As the city's spectacular celebration got under way, six people were rescued from a sinking boat on Sydney Harbor, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

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Bringing in 2014 – Indonesian military members release lanterns into the sky from Bintan Island, Indonesia.

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Bringing in 2014 – Fireworks are set off from the Auckland Sky Tower in Auckland, New Zealand, to celebrate the first New Year's celebration of 2014.

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Story highlights

Revelers in London were treated to edible confetti choreographed to fireworks

Dubai's huge firework show certified as largest by Guinness World Records

40,000 new laws go into effect in the U.S., some involving pot, placentas and shark fins

A bar in Florida celebrates by lowering a drag queen from a giant shoe from the building

Yes, it's New Year's Eve again, time to bust out the champagne and make resolutions you probably won't keep.

But this year's different. Cities around the world were hosting some of the most amazing celebrations ever. Edible confetti raining over London? Check. How about 400,000 pyrotechnics exploding over Dubai? That happened, too.

Why have a fireworks show that only looks good? Revelers in London stuck out their tongues during Tuesday's extravaganza and enjoyed banana-flavored confetti that was choreographed to the fireworks. They also saw floating oranges drifting through the night sky and popped them to enjoy a citrusy scent!

For years, female impersonator Gary "Sushi" Marion has been lowered from the Bourbon St. Pub in Key West while riding in a massive high-heel shoe.

"It was inspired by 'Priscilla Queen of the Desert' when it first came out, with the whole high heel on top of the bus," said Joey Schroeder, owner of Bourbon St. Pub. "I wanted to take that idea and do something fun on New Year's Eve."

And because the date line isn't fixed by any international law or agreement, it can zig and zag to accommodate government and business interests. It's as close to a time machine as we'll probably get.

5. Yes to placentas, no to shark fins

More than 40,000 new laws will take effect in the U.S. on New Year's Day. While Colorado's legalization of marijuana has racked up plenty of headlines, here are some of the more peculiar ones:

In Oregon, mothers will be allowed to take their placentas home from the hospital. Some say placenta capsules can help with postpartum depression, CNN affiliate KGW reported, though there's not a lot of medical research backing that up.

Delaware will join a growing number of states where you can't own, sell or distribute shark fins, which is considered a delicacy in some East Asian cuisine.

And thousands of companies will have to provide calorie counts for products sold in vending machines.

Because if you're going to a vending machine, clearly you care the most about calories, right?